Urat language explained

Urat
States:	Papua New Guinea
Region:	East Sepik Province
Date:	2017
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Torricelli
Fam2:	Urim
Iso3:	urt
Glotto:	urat1244
Glottorefname:	Urat

Urat (Wasep, Wusyep) is a Torricelli language spoken by a decreasing number of people in Papua New Guinea.

It is spoken by 2,480 people in Wasep Ngau (North Urat dialect), 2,060 in Wusyep Yihre (Central Urat dialect), 1,210 in Wasep Yam (South Urat dialect), and 550 in Wusyep Tep (East Urat dialect).^[1]

Phonology

Unusually for a Papuan language, Urat has four voiceless liquids and semivowels, which are ɬ, r̥, w̥, and j̥. Urat consonants are:

p	t	ʧ	k	ʔ
ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮʤ	ᵑg
	s	ʃ		h
m	n	ɲ	ŋ
	l
	ɬ
	r
	r̥
̥w		j
w̥		j̥

Urat vowels are:

i	u
e	o
a

Pronouns

Pronouns are:^[2]

	sg	pl
1	ŋam	poi
2	nin	yip
3m	kin	tiŋe
3f	ti

Further reading

• Barnes, Barney. 1989. Urat Grammar Essentials. Unpublished manuscript. Ukarumpa, PNG: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Papua New Guinea Village Coordinates Lookup . United Nations in Papua New Guinea . Humanitarian Data Exchange . 1.31.9 . 2018.
2. Book: Foley, William A. . Palmer . Bill . 2018 . The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide . The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs . The World of Linguistics . 4 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 197–432 . 978-3-11-028642-7.